


Birthday Memories

by ohnoanotheroneofthese (MyOldFics)



Category: Pierce the Veil, Sleeping With Sirens
Genre: Angst, Birthday, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-10
Updated: 2017-12-10
Packaged: 2019-02-13 03:47:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12975198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyOldFics/pseuds/ohnoanotheroneofthese
Summary: Kellin had hated his birthday ever since he was a kid. And ever since they started dating, Vic had tried his best to make Kellin see that the day was worth celebrating and that he deserved to have a happy day. Until this year, it seemed, since it looked like Vic didn't even remember.





	Birthday Memories

**Author's Note:**

  * For [QuoteIntangible](https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuoteIntangible/gifts).



> Written after a prompt I got from @QuoteIntangible! Go check out their stories, they're awesome (did i mean the stories or the author idk, it fits for both) :D

Kellin woke up to an empty bed once again. It was nothing out of the ordinary these days. Pierce the Veil was getting closer and closer to finishing their album, so Vic spent most of his days at the studio, leaving at the crack of dawn and usually coming home pretty late. And since Sleeping with Sirens was off tour at the moment, Kellin was using the opportunity to sleep in most of the days.

Kellin stretched and reached to his nightstand, taking his phone from the charger to check his notifications. There were the usual ones for likes on twitter and instagram, and he swiped them away. He did the same to his emails - it was too early to start going through them. That left him with a few notifications for messages. Seemed like all his friends from the band had sent one, as had a couple of people from their crew. They all had the same basic message, worded slightly differently each time.

Happy birthday.

It was April 24th, Kellin’s birthday. Kellin let out a tired sigh at the realisation, replying to each message with a simple “thank you” and a smiley face. In reality a smile was too far to reach at that moment, as memories of past birthdays filled his mind.

Not a lot of people knew that Kellin had a brother, a twin brother to be exact. The two were nothing alike, not when it came to appearance, personality, or how much their parents liked them. 

In a lot of ways, Kyle was better in their parents’ eyes. He was good at sports, he had a lot of friends when they were growing up, he never got bullied, and he got what his parents called a “real job” and education. He had a girlfriend, and a child. 

What their parents didn’t see, or maybe they just didn’t care, was how mean Kyle was, how selfish, and how arrogant. There weren’t a lot of people Kellin could say he hated, but Kyle was definitely one of them. Kellin felt nothing but joy at the thought that he had not seen his twin brother in the past five years he had spent living in California. 

Birthdays were always the hardest. His parents liked the outgoing twin a lot more, and it showed extremely well on their birthday. Or, if you could call the day that. As they grew up, the day had turned more and more into Kyle’s birthday, and at the age of ten Kellin had stopped receiving any kind of birthday presents. Even the crappy ones he used to get were left unreceived that year. 

It was around the same time Kellin’s grandmother had started to take Kellin to her place when the dreaded day came, just so they could celebrate it together. She did that so that Kellin didn’t need to see everyone celebrating his brother and acting like Kellin didn’t exist. Kellin’s grandma had always tried her best to make Kellin’s birthday a happy one since she had been the only one in the family who seemed to care. Kellin’s grandma had tried, but one person can only do so much.

Kellin was left with a mindset that his birthday wasn’t a big deal. It wasn’t worth celebrating and he was silly for thinking that it mattered. He didn’t deserve a birthday party. After years and years of hearing that, it was no wonder that it had stuck to Kellin’s mind. All his birthday brought up were bad memories, the good ones with his grandma just highlighting how crappy the others had been. 

Years later, when he wasn’t a kid anymore and birthdays weren’t supposed to be that big of a deal, (although in Kellin’s case they had never been, and not by his choice) he had met Vic. And the amount of people who felt like Kellin’s birthday was worth celebrating amounted to two. Vic had always tried his best to make Kellin feel special on his birthday and had tried to make up for all the crappy birthdays. Even though every year Kellin reminded him that he didn’t need to bother, and that he was used to not celebrating the day. 

Shaking the depressing thoughts from his head, Kellin got out of the bed and headed downstairs. He went to the kitchen to find something to eat, and was mildly surprised when he didn’t find any notes from Vic. A small part of him had thought that maybe Vic would have written a note, or something, since he wasn’t there in person to wish Kellin happy birthday.

Not finding a note, he continued making breakfast. He pushed aside the feeling of disappointment that briefly crossed his mind. It didn’t matter, he thought, he had no right to expect anything. It was just another day.

As the day went on, Kellin found that small feeling of disappointment growing and growing. There had been no notes and he was sure about it, since he would have noticed one by now. He hadn’t so much as gotten a text from Vic. There was nothing that indicated that Vic remembered.

But maybe, just maybe Vic was waiting until he got home? It would be more personal to wish happy birthday face to face, rather than leave a note or send a text. Kellin felt guilty for having that small bit of hope because he shouldn’t care. It didn’t really matter. 

After cooking some pasta and eating it on the couch while watching crappy daytime television, Kellin decided that he needed some fresh air. Not in the mood to actually dress in proper clothing instead of the comfy pajamas he had been wearing the whole day, he decided that maybe a trip to pick up the post would be enough to clear his depressing mind. 

As they day had gone on, Kellin had been sinking deeper and deeper into the depressive feeling his birthday always brought along, and even now when it was well into the afternoon, he hadn't heard anything from Vic. He didn’t want to bother him and text him first, he was probably busy. And what would he send?  _ Hey love, remember what day it is? _ No, that would sound like he cared. It would sound like he was expecting Vic to say or do something just because it was Kellin’s birthday. 

Kellin walked to the mailbox and took out the contents, slowly walking back inside. He took the mail to their kitchen, setting it down on the dining table. He browsed through them, his attention spiking when he noticed a card. 

The card had lots of flowers on the front, and already knowing who the card was from, Kellin turned it around to read the message behind it.

_ “Dear Kellin, _

_ I wish I could be there to congratulate you in person. I love you so much and I hope you have a lovely day with your friends and Vic! _

_ Happy birthday!  _

_ -Grandma” _

The card brought a smile to his face, the first one he’d had the whole day. His grandma was so important to Kellin, she was pretty much the only person Kellin counted as family. Because of the distance, they met rarely, but Kellin made sure to visit her every time they were touring in Michigan. His grandma had never actually met Vic, but had been supportive when Kellin had first told her about him. She had always cared about Kellin’s happiness when he was a child, and even though Kellin had been nervous about telling her, she had been happy to hear that Kellin was happy.

He set the card down as he heard his phone notify about a new message. He checked his phone to see that it was from Vic. 

_ “It will be late before I come home tonight, you don’t need to wait up. ” _

And just as quickly as his smile had appeared, his good mood disappeared. He wouldn’t even be seeing Vic tonight. Vic wasn’t even asking him to stay up so they could spend time together, he was telling Kellin to go to bed before he came home. 

Not knowing what to reply, he typed out a simple  _ “Okay”. _

_ “We’ll try to get as much done as we can today, we decided to have a couple day break from recording after today. Tony has to go to his sister’s wedding and we all could use a breather.” _

_ “Cool” _

Kellin was aware that his replies were short and probably sounded rude, but he didn’t have the energy to care. Sure, it would be nice to actually spend time with Vic for a few days, but he had not even mentioned Kellin’s birthday. Kellin felt like a sulking child but he didn’t care. He thought that his birthday meant something to Vic, he had spent years trying to change Kellin’s outlook on the day, only to just ignore it completely this year. 

Maybe Vic had gotten sick of Kellin’s moping and had decided that maybe Kellin was right. If he felt like his birthday wasn’t worth celebrating, they should stop. After all, it was what Kellin seemed to want. 

Kellin would never admit it, but year by year he had learnt to like his birthday more and more. He looked forward to the little things Vic would do. True, he felt bad that Vic had to see so much trouble for a day that wasn’t supposed to bother anyone, but even the small gestures made Kellin fall in love with Vic even more. His boyfriend was so caring, and it meant the world to Kellin that he made the effort to make up for the bad birthdays and make sure that Kellin was happy. 

Not feeling like doing anything, Kellin decided that he might as well go to bed. At least that way the day would be over sooner. He went back to the living room, turning the TV off before he went upstairs to shower. Kellin would never admit it, but that night, not all the moisture on his pillow came from going to bed with wet hair.   

\---

It was well past midnight when Vic stepped into the quiet and dark house. He didn’t expect Kellin to be up at this hour, so he tried to be as quiet as possible, knowing how light sleeper his boyfriend was. He lightly shut the door behind himself, making sure it was locked. He left his jacket on the coat rack beside the door, and toed his shoes off underneath it. 

With his sock clad feet he made his way to the kitchen, deciding to have something to eat before heading to the shower and bed. He turned the small light on to be able to see better, and headed to the refrigerator. As he opened the door, his eyes fell to the bowl on one of the shelves, a bright blue post-it note stuck to it.

_ “Thought you might be hungry, here’s some leftover pasta from dinner.  _

_ -Kellin” _

With a grateful smile, Vic took the bowl from the fridge and walked to their microwave. He removed the plastic wrap before he put it in, closing the door as quietly as possible. Too afraid of the loud beep that would most likely wake Kellin up, Vic stood by the microwave as he waited for his food to heat up. As the timer read 00:02, he quickly opened the door, taking the steaming bowl out from the microwave. 

He took a fork from a drawer and filled a glass with water, deciding to sit at the dinner table while he ate. He sat down and started eating, enjoying the tasty food Kellin had made. Out of the two of them, Kellin was definitely the one who cooked the most. The biggest reason might have been that Vic’s skills ended after boiling some pasta, the other being that cooking was something Kellin enjoyed doing. It was both a fun hobby and way to relax and let his frustrations out.

As he ate, Vic looked through the mail that was in the middle of the table. A local newspaper, some magazines, a couple bill-looking letters, and a postcard. Curious about the postcard, Vic moved the other mail aside and looked at it closer.

A birthday card.

Vic felt his blood ran cold as realisation crossed his mind. He dropped the card, his hand going to his pocket to find his phone. And as he had feared, his thought had been proved right when he looked at the date. 

April 25th.

How could he be so stupid! Vic put his phone down on the table, leaning on his elbows, the heels of his hands pressing onto his eyes. How could he forget? Granted, they had been super busy at the studio and it had been weeks since Vic had last even been able to tell what day of the week it was, but April 24th? How could he be so ignorant to forget his boyfriend's birthday?

“Fuck,” he whispered forcefully, still careful not to wake Kellin up.

For some it wouldn’t be a big deal, they could explain and apologise the next day and it would all be fine. Vic could probably do that too, he was sure Kellin wouldn’t be mad at him. Hell, Vic wished that Kellin would be mad at him for forgetting. It would mean that he cared.

For years Vic had worked so hard to make the day special in one way or another. He had tried to make Kellin see that his birthday was worth celebrating, and that he deserved to have a happy day.

And this year? Vic had left him home alone, not changing a single word in person. No kisses, no hugs, dammit, barely even texts. They had been so busy today. Vic felt so bad when he thought of the day Kellin must have had. As far as Vic knew, he had gotten a single postcard. Had anyone else remembered? Vic knew for a fact that Kellin’s family didn’t care, but he hoped to god that someone had. Everyone could not have forgotten.  

Vic stood up, forgetting the pasta as he started to pace. He really needed to figure out a way to make this up for Kellin. 

-.-.-

When Kellin woke up the following morning, it was to the feeling of soft lips brushing against his bare shoulder, and a solid source of warmth pressed against his back. Content in the peaceful moment, he didn’t move. He kept his eyes closed and focused on those lips, lips that were trailing along the expanse of his shoulders and the back of his neck.

Vic was home, and it had been so long since they had been able to wake up together than Kellin almost hadn’t realised how much he missed this. He took a deep breath in, relaxed in the comforting familiarity of Vic’s embrace. His arm was holding Kellin’s middle, and their legs were tangled underneath the sheets. 

“I know you’re awake,” Vic murmured, his lips brushing Kellin’s skin as he spoke.

“Shut up, I’m not.” Kellin answered tiredly, enjoying the moment too much to let it end. He kept his eyes closed but couldn’t fight the smile that was present on his lips.

Vic chuckled as he pulled away, causing Kellin to tiredly roll onto his back. He opened his eyes to see Vic leaning on his elbow above him, looking Kellin right in the eyes with a loving smile on his lips. 

“C’mere,” Kellin muttered, lifting his arms and pulling Vic back down so his upper body was lying on Kellin’s, his face buried in Kellin’s neck.

Kellin didn’t know what time it was or how long he had slept, but it was surely more than enough. Kellin had never been a morning person though, so it took him a while to actually wake up enough to be able to function. 

Vic was the complete opposite. He could survive with very little sleep and still wake up bright and early, ready to tackle the day before the sun had even made an appearance. Kellin never understood that, but he was insanely jealous of that ability. 

Vic knew not to wake Kellin up too early though, and judging by the sunlight that was seeping into the room through the crack in the curtains, Kellin knew that it was late in Vic’s standards. But that shouldn’t be a surprise, since Kellin had no idea about what time Vic had came to bed last night. 

“Have you been up long?” Kellin asked, breaking the comfortable silence.

“No, I woke up a bit before you,” Vic answered. “I’m sorry I woke you up. I missed you.”

“It’s okay,” Kellin replied, his hands moving up and down Vic’s bare back. 

The two laid there in silence for a while longer, until eventually it was Vic who broke it again.

“I’m sorry,” he muttered, kissing Kellin’s neck.

“For what?” Kellin asked, certain that Vic wasn’t talking about waking him up anymore.

“For yesterday,” Vic said, moving his head up to look at Kellin. “For forgetting your birthday.”

“Oh,” Kellin said, suddenly remembering yesterday’s events. Before that he had been too content to think back to it. “It’s okay.”

Vic looked saddened by his words, a deep frown falling to his face, “It’s not.”

Kellin just shrugged, not feeling like arguing about it. He averted his eyes away from Vic’s sad expression, turning his head to the side. The morning had started so happily, why did Vic have to bring up his birthday?

“I’m sorry,” Vic said again, kissing Kellin’s cheek. He placed another kiss to the corner of Kellin’s mouth that had turned down the moment they had started to talk about the topic. From there his lips traveled to Kellin’s neck, trailing kisses down it as he went. “I shouldn’t have forgotten. We’ve been so busy at the studio I didn’t realise what day it was before I came home last night.”

“Like I said,” Kellin said, turning to look at Vic with a reassuring smile. “It’s not a big deal.”

“It is to me and I’m going to make it up to you,” Vic said adamantly as he moved so he was straddling Kellin, completely on top of him as his kisses traveled back to Kellin’s mouth.

All the arguments were wiped from Kellin’s mind as they kissed, the intensity of it making it impossible to comprehend any other thoughts than the ones about how good it felt. But even in the midst of it, there was still something he needed Vic to know before he could fully enjoy this.

“You don’t  _ have to _ do anything,” Kellin said, pressing his hands to Vic’s chest to give himself space to speak. He didn’t want Vic to feel like he owed Kellin something just because he had forgotten his birthday.

“I know,” Vic said truthfully. “I want to.”

All Kellin could do was nod as Vic leaned back down to kiss him, Kellin’s hands going around to Vic’s back to pull him even closer, and it wasn’t long before Vic’s lips started going lower again.

-.-.-

Vic was by the stove cooking eggs and listening music when he felt arms wrap around his waist and the smell of shampoo filled his nose. 

“I told you to stay in bed,” he said as he turned his head enough to peck Kellin’s cheek as the other boy rested his chin on Vic’s shoulder.

“I know but I felt so icky, I had to shower,” Kellin explained. “And I missed you.”

“First of all, you showered without me, I’m offended,” Vic said with a hint of playfulness in his tone. “Secondly, your hair is making my shirt all wet.”

“Sorry,” Kellin laughed as he pulled away, going to find them plates as well as mugs for the coffee that was getting ready in the coffeemaker. 

“I didn’t mean that you had to leave,” Vic whined. 

Kellin laughed again, his happy mood restored. He set the plates and utensils down on the table, going to the coffeemaker to pour their mugs full. He took the mugs to the table too, sitting down just as Vic came over with the hot pan in his hands.

“Here you go,” he said as he scooped half of the eggs to Kellin’s plate. “Your breakfast in bed, served to you on the dining table.”

“It’s the thought that counts,” Kellin said as he scooped some eggs to his mouth. “You should be home more often in the mornings, you could cook me breakfast.”

Vic put the other half of the eggs to his own plate before taking the pan back to the stove to wait to be washed later, “Who says I would cook for you each morning?”

“You’re the breakfast master,” Kellin said, pointing the fork to Vic who sat opposite him. “I’ll gladly cook you dinner if you cook us breakfast.”

“Sounds like a deal,” Vic said. While cooking wasn’t his strongest point, he was good at making breakfast foods. That’s pretty much what he had been living with before Kellin came along. That, along with pasta and frozen meals.

They ate in comfortable silence and cleared the table after they were done. By now it was past noon, but neither of them had anywhere to be so it didn’t really matter that they had only just finished breakfast.

“What would you like to do today?” Vic asked as he dried his hands after putting their plates to the dishwasher and washing his hands. “We can go anywhere you like, do whatever you want. We can celebrate your birthday today.”

“Actually,” Kelin started, pausing to think. “I don’t want to go anywhere. It’s been weeks since we’ve been able to spend a lazy day at home. I want to just spend time with you here, maybe watch a movie or two? Or five?”

“You sure you don’t want to go somewhere special?” Vic asked, ready to make up for the forgotten birthday. He wanted to make sure Kellin really wanted this and wasn’t just saying it so that Vic didn’t need to make an effort in the name of Kellin’s birthday. 

“I’m positive,” Kellin said, nodding his head and smiling reassuringly. 

“Okay, movie day it is then,” Vic said, smiling back at Kellin. “I’m going to go shower really quick, you pick out the first movie and make the couch really cosy, okay?”

“Okay, hurry back,” Kellin said, pecking Vic’s lips.

“Definitely,” Vic smiled as he headed to the bathroom.

-.-.-

When Vic walked back to the living room, wearing fresh clothes and his hair still dripping a bit, he saw his boyfriend in the corner of the couch, wrapped in one of the several blankets he had there, playing with his phone.

“You think there’s still room for me in there?” Vic asked, gaining Kellin’s attention. 

“Of course,” Kellin said with a smile, putting his phone away and lifting the blanket.

Vic got the hint and walked over to Kellin, sitting down next to him as Kellin laid the blanket over the both of them.

“Before we start I want to give you something,” Vic said, digging his hoodie pocket for two sheets of paper, folded neatly together.

“What is it,” Kellin asked curiously as Vic handed them to him.

“My birthday present for you,” Vic said simply, waiting not so patiently for Kellin to find out what they were.

“You didn’t need to give me anything,” Kellin protested, looking at Vic with a guilty expression.

“Shush, I wanted to,” Vic dismissed him and motioned for Keliin to open the papers. “Now look what they are.”

Kellin smiled and did as he was told, unfolding the papers and looking them over, “Two plane tickets to Michigan?”

Kellin looked curious as to why Vic had given him plane tickets to his hometown, so Vic decided to explain his thought process. He was quite proud of his idea, especially because he had only figured it out at one am last night.

“You always talk about how you’d want to visit your grandma more often,” Vic explained, anxious to find out Kellin’s reaction to his gift. “And to be honest I’d love to meet her too. I’d love to meet the person who means so much to you, if you allow me to. I checked your calendar and we should both be free to travel on those dates.”

Kellin was quiet, simply because he didn’t have the words for the situation,. Being a successful musician he was, it wasn’t like he couldn’t afford to buy the tickets himself, but it was the thought that made Kellin so damn moved. Vic knew how much Kellin’s grandma meant to him, and he wanted to meet her, wanted to meet the person Kellin called his family. It meant so much to Kellin he didn’t know what to say. A simple thank you felt too small.

By now Vic’s enthusiasm had started to fade as Kellin’s silence continued, and Kellin realised that he had to do something. Still being unable to find the words, he threw his arms around Vic, giving him a hug that was tighter than he’d probably ever given him before. 

“I don’t know what to say,” he muttered to Vic’s shoulder, as Vic hugged him back just as tightly.

“I take it you like the present?” Vic asked, chuckling at his boyfriend’s reaction.

“I love it,” Kellin said, pulling back from the hug and kissing Vic on the lips. “I love you.”

  
“I love you too,” Vic beamed, giving Kellin another kiss. After that he pulled back, leaving one of his hands wrapped around Kellin’s back as he faced the TV. “Shall we start our marathon?”

“Yeah,” Kellin breathed, still looking at the printed tickets in his hands.His grandma was finally going to meet Vic, and Kellin had no doubt in his heart that his grandma would absolutely love him.

“Okay let’s see what movie you picked,” Vic said and pressed play, tearing Kellin’s attention from the tickets that he placed carefully to the coffee table. 

-.-.-

They had finished two movies, and were currently opening a box of pizza that had just been delivered. Vic was looking through netflix at the same time, trying to find the next movie for them to watch. Pizza and movies, not the most fanciest or the most exciting way to spend a birthday, but Kellin thought it was absolutely perfect. As he thought about his birthday, a thought came to his head that he felt like Vic would like to know. 

“Do you wanna know something?” Kellin asked, getting a questioning look from Vic who turned his attention from Netflix to his boyfriend. “When I realised that you had forgotten my birthday, I felt disappointed.”

Kellin looked as Vic’s face fell and his eyes filled with sadness. He opened his mouth - to apologize, no doubt - but Kellin continued.

“I’m not saying that to make you feel guilty,” he quickly said. “Absolutely not. I’m saying it because I want to make you happy. I want you to know that you've succeeded.”

The look on Vic’s face was the epitome of confused, and he asked, “What do you mean?”

“After all these years of drilling it into my head that my birthday means something, you have made a piece of me believe it,” Kellin explained, a small smile present on his face.

And just like that, the confusion on Vic’s face turned into a bright smile. 

“That is the biggest compliment I could hear.”

Kellin smiled back at his boyfriend. It was true that his birthdays weren’t great when he was growing up, but the more birthdays he spent with Vic, the happier they seemed to get. In the end the best gift Vic could give Kellin was truly just his company, and the new birthday memories they’d make together.


End file.
